Plumb-level



(No Model.)

T. N.- ROAGH. PLUMB LEVEL.

' No. 602,874. Patented Apr.26,1898i WITNESSES: W l/VVEA/TUR ATTORNEYS 1uonms :rrzns co, Pumaumo AASNINGTQH w c UNITED STATES rrrcn.

PATENT PLUMB=LEVEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 602,874, dated Aprilas, 1898. Application filed June 10,1897. Serial No. 640,121. (NomodelJTo all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS N. ROACH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Fort iVayne, in the county of Allen, in the State ofIndiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inPlumb-Levels; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part ofthis specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in plumb-levels forthe use ofcarpenters, masons, and all other persons having occasion to determinelevels and angles of inclination; and the objects of my invention are toprovide a cheap and durable instrument, simple in operation, which canbe used by any person of ordinary intelligence in determining vertical,horizontal, and inclined planes, sufficiently accurate for all ordinarypurposes within limited distances, where a theodolite or other expensiveinstruments for leveling in the hands of professional engineers aregenerally employed, and which is also adapted for all the ordinary usesof a spirit-level. I attain these objects by the instrument illustratedin the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view ofthe completed instrument ready for use. Fig. 2 is a transverse verticalsectional view through the line X X of Fig. 1. Fig. 8 is a detail sideview of Fig. 1, partly in section, to show the adjustment of thereservoir in the stock; and Fig. at is a detail in section of thereservoir shown in Fig. 2.

Similar numerals of reference indicate like parts in the several views,in whichi 1 is the stock or body, preferably of wood, provided with theusual metal end plates to protect it from injury and having in its sidea transverse aperture 2, in which is secured a reservoir comprised oftwo plates 5 and 6, of glass or other transparent material, and havingbetween their adjacent faces a chamber 10, formed by circular recessessunk-within the plates, as shown in Fig. 2, and on their outer edgeslugs 12 12 for convenience of adits periphery and the flange 11 forfilling with V cement. A tubular orifice 8 extends outwardly from thechamber 10 through the plate 5 to the outer edge of the stock, as shownin Fig. 4. The two plates 5 and 6 are placed together and hermeticallysealed by filling in the space between the outer edge of the plate 5 andthe flange 11 with a cement or any other proper material, thus formingthe chamber 10, which is half filled, through the orifice 8, with anyproper liquid, preferably alcohol, and the orifice hermetically closed.The reservoir is then placed within the aperture 2 of the stock, midwaybetween its sides, and properly secured, and over each face of thereservoir is secured, to the opposite sides of the stock, by screws 4,an annular casing or plate 3 and 3, having inwardly-converging sides,which contact with the reservoir and have a circular opening for thesaid glass faces. The converging sides of these casings or plates form adial-face which is divided into equal parts by graduated scale-markingsthereon. The casing 3 has its horizontal and vertical diameters at rightangles indicated by zero: marks on the dial-plates and the intermediatespaces divided into degrees, as shown in Fig. 1. The opposite casing 3has its horizontal and vertical diameters indicated by zero-marks inlike manner and the intermediate spaces subdivided into feet and inchesand parts of inches, or, according to the met ric system, into metersand its subdivisions.

The reservoir being half filled with alcohol, as described, is soadjusted and secured within the stock that the diametric zero-marks uponthe dial-plate will coincide with the upper surface of the liquid whenthe stock is in a true parallel plane with the earths su rface, as shownin Fig. 1. It is obvious that when so adjusted if the stock is placed ina vertical position by the familiar law of fluids, the surface of thefluid in the reservoir will register with the zero-marks perpendicularto the longitudinal length of the stoclnbody and that any degree ofinclination either from a will show the angle of elevation to be forty-1 The instrument thus arrangedfive degrees. can be used by the carpenterand joiner in plumbing his work, as also the mason, and a street gradeor embankment can be as readily constructed or determined.

The instrument is always ready for use and p is practically accurate forboth purposes It is obvious that it is immaterial which of the plates 5and 6 is the larger and that the graduated scales can be marked upon theouter face of the plates or that a circular disk having the scalesmarked thereon can beinterposed between the faces of the reservoir andthe casings 3 and 3 without departing from the scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A plumb-level having a stock with a central transverse openingthrough its sides; a reservoir having parallel sides of transparentmaterial and a circular interior chamber, secured within said opening; amobile liquid within said chamber having its upper surface coincidentwith the diameter of said chamber; a disk or ring having an interiorcircular opening and adapted to be secured over the said reservoir uponeach side thereof and having a graduated scale upon the outer face ofeach disk; the orifice 8 for introducing the liquid within thereservoir, and means for hermetically sealing it therein; all arrangedsubstantially as described and shown.

2. A plumb-level having a stock-body with a central transverse openingthrough its sides;

a reservoir having parallel sides of transparent material and a circularinterior chamber, secured within said opening by proper lugs; a mobileliquid within said chamber having its upper surface coincident with thediameter of said chamber; a disk having an interior circular openingsecured on each side of the stock over the reservoir; a graduatedscale'upon the sides of the chamber within said disks; the orifices andmeans for hermetically sealing the liquid in said chamber; all arrangedsubstantially as described and shown.

3. A plumb-level, having a stock-body with a central transverse openingthrough its sides; areservoir secured byproper lugs within saidopeninghavin g parallel transparent sides and a circular interiorchamber; a mobile liquid within said chamber having its upper surfacecoincident with the diameter thereof; a disk or rim having an interiorcircular opening adapted to be secured to the stock upon one side of thesaid reservoir, and having a graduated scale to indicate feet and inchesof inclination of the stock by the registering of the liquid with thescale, and upon the other or reverse side another disk or rim havingalso a circular opening and adapted to be secured to the stock andhaving a graduated scale to indicate the inclination of the stockaccording to the metric system as the liquid registers therewith; theorifice 8 for introducing the liquid within the reservoir, and means forhermetically sealing it therein; all arranged substantially asdescribed.

Signed by me, at Fort Wayne, Indiana, this 5th day of June, 1897.

THOMAS N. ROAOH. In presence oflVIARSHALL COMIN OAVISH, Aucus'rus A.CHAPIN.

